Surface Engineering of Polymeric Colloidal Crystals by Temperature - Pressure Annealing.

Polymer colloidal crystals (PCCs) have been widely explored as acoustic and optical metamaterials and as templates for nanolithography. However, fabrication impurities and fragility of the self-assembled structures are critical bottlenecks for the device's efficiency and applications. We have demonstrated that temperature-assisted pressure [ annealing results in the mechanical strengthening of PCCs, which improves with the annealing temperature.

Fast Photoactuation and Environmental Response of Humidity-Sensitive pDAP-Silicon Nanocantilevers.

Multi-responsive nanomembranes are a new class of advanced materials that can be harnessed in complex architectures for micro and nano-manipulators, artificial muscles, energy harvesting, soft robotics, and sensors. The design and fabrication of responsive membranes must meet such challenges as trade-offs between responsiveness and mechanical durability, volumetric low-cost production ensuring low environmental impact, and compatibility with standard technologies or biological systems This work demonstrates the fabrication of multi-responsive, mechanically robust poly(1,3-diaminopropane) (pDAP) nanomembranes and their application in fast photoactuators. The pDAP films are developed using a plasma-assisted polymerization technique that offers large-scale production and versatility of potential industrial relevance.

Experimental examination of dipole-dipole cross-correlations by dielectric spectroscopy, depolarized dynamic light scattering, and computer simulations of molecular dynamics.

The contribution of cross- and self-correlations to the dielectric and light-scattering spectra of supercooled polar glass formers has recently become a most challenging problem. Herein, we employ dielectric spectroscopy, depolarized dynamic light scattering (DDLS), and rheology to thoroughly examine the dynamics of van der Waals liquid 1,2-Diphenylvinylene. Carbonate (DVC), which is a polar counterpart of canonical glass former ortho-Terphenyl (OTP).

Comparing Mfd- and UvrD-dependent models of transcription coupled DNA repair in live Escherichia coli using single-molecule tracking.

During transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) the detection of DNA damage and initiation of nucleotide excision repair (NER) is performed by translocating RNA polymerases (RNAP), which are arrested upon encountering bulky DNA lesions. Two opposing models of the subsequent steps of TCR in bacteria exist. In the first model, stalled RNAPs are removed from the damage site by recruitment of Mfd which dislodges RNAP by pushing it forwards before recruitment of UvrA and UvrB.

Control of Intermolecular Interactions toward the Production of Free-Standing Interfacial Polydopamine Films.

Aggregation of the polydopamine (PDA) molecular building blocks at the air/water interface leads to obtaining large surface nanometric-thin films. This mechanism follows two possible pathways, namely, covalent or non-covalent self-assembly, which result in a different degree of structure order and, consequently, different structural properties. Control of this mechanism could be vital for applications that require true self-support PDA free-standing films, for example, electrochemical sensing or membrane technology.